The American Horse Council (AHC) is reminding all members of the horse-owning community to participate in the 2007 Census of Agriculture being conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA census, taken every five years, is a count of U.S. farms, ranches and the people who operate them. A link to the Census can be found on the front page of the AHC’s website at www.horsecouncil.org or at https://www.agcounts.usda.gov/cgi-bin/counts.

The USDA reports that the 2007 Census of Agriculture will help to measure land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures and many other areas. The AHC wants to ensure that the American horse industry is properly accounted for in the upcoming census.

If your farm received a survey for census participation in the past (the last census was taken in 2002), the USDA will mail your farm a survey that you can fill in and mail back.

If your farm was not part of the 2002 census, or you are not sure if you participated, you can fill out a basic USDA census registration form online at the link above.. Once this form is submitted online, a survey will be mailed to you.

Beginning in late December 2007, the census survey will be available to all farm owners and operators to fill out online even if they have not pre-registered.

Census forms will be mailed on December 28, 2007. The mailing will include further instructions about how to log in and respond to the census via a secure web connection. All census forms must be completed by February 2, 2008. Additional information on the 2007 Census of Agriculture can be found on the USDA’s website at www.agcesnus.usda.gov.